another n00b bike recommendation thread

[unknown00]

never owned my own bike before. learned to ride and use to ride from my friends r6

restrictions- under $5000, used, preferably nothing older than 1995, nothing higher than 600cc. i'm not really concerned about the "speed", but i really like the look and sound. for look i like the look of pretty much the typical gsx-r600, r6, cbr600, zzr600, etc. for sound well...again typical bike sound. i'm sure i can achieve a good sound from an aftermarket exhaust. i don't have experience in bikes, but i work for an auto performance company and can/have build engines/trannies before so in the technical area i'm not that concerned

goooooooooooo

[Ozy]

[kdbolt70]

Don't mean to burst that bubble of yours, but not many people on here are going to recommend a 600 supersport as your first bike, regardless of if you can afford it or not. If you're buying the bike for how pretty it is and how nice it sounds, I'd suggest making sure you don't crash it in the first month, hence getting some experience on a more forgiving bike. I love the looks of the CBR too, but I forced myself to go smaller until I know I have plenty of road experience. Check out this thread: Want a 600? Read This!

[RayOSV]

What color strikes your fancy?

[jobiwan]

box of rape...riiight..well that's interesting

anyway, why don't you check out the '08 ninja 250 its a nice bike. I'm even considering getting rid of my CBR in favor of one of those. There's no need to do 150mph on the street..none. And you'll save on gas and insurance.

[PUSkunk]

I'll second the Ninja 250, they are a sweet little bike. And while I'm not the "don't start on a 600" crowd, most of the 600 supersports have capabilities far more than mortal man can achieve, and riding positions that make you feel like you're staring at your own butthole. Get an FZ6, if you want a 600, nice sound and a 14000 rpm redline! Or an SV650, not too intimidating, and people race them all the time. I wish they still sold the Bandit 400, it was a sweet little bike, and I lusted after it in the 90's.

[caraudiomechanik]

My vote is start on a GS500F or a Ninja 500. A 250 in my opinion is not big enough for running speeds above 55mph and a new Ninja 250R will probably to find or wait for one to show up at a dealer. My GS500F holds it own on the highway in traffic pretty well(Nashville afternoon rush hour(s) SUCKS). My GS500F gets 50 mpg even when I get up on the highway around 75 mph.

[VermillionX]

I will second the 500. I started on one and it was the best decision I made so far about riding. You will learn alot if you go that route. But hey you are an adult and are going to get what you want.

[denizined]

I don't want to go off on a tangent here but thought it neccessary to point out since it keeps cropping out...

How do all these people "learn how to ride on their friend's r6s and cbrs and gsxrs"?!?
What kind of SS owning person in their right mind would give their bike to someone who has never sat on a bike before and teach them how to ride. I don't know if i'd trust my bike with any rider regardless of experience let alone a complete noob! I've come to suspect a fair amount of these people claiming to learn on their friends bike have gone no further than just sitting on the bike and having the gears and break levers pointed out to them. If this is a generalization I'll be happy to admit my mistake.

On a sidenote, my flatmate wanted to get an r6 just after i got my 250, i managed to convince him to go for the ninjette instead which he's getting in august and every now and then he tries to convince me to teach him how to ride on my bike (we don't have MSF here or proper teaching schools, best we get is learning how to change gears,emergency break and u-turn) but I still refuse. The day he gets his bike I'll be happy to teach him whatever I was taught (took the cbt course in england which is almost the same as msf).

As for the OP, even if you go for what you think is the slowest, shittiest bike, the 250, you're still going to enjoy it, and you're still going to get to speeds enough to kill you and in twisties (which is the best part of riding) you're gonna have more fun on a 250 than a 600 at this stage of your riding. If this doesnt sound reasonable to you then disregard any advice in this thread and get whatever you want and learn first hand where this advice is coming from.

[tobu]

Originally Posted by caraudiomechanik

My vote is start on a GS500F or a Ninja 500. A 250 in my opinion is not big enough for running speeds above 55mph and a new Ninja 250R will probably to find or wait for one to show up at a dealer. My GS500F holds it own on the highway in traffic pretty well(Nashville afternoon rush hour(s) SUCKS). My GS500F gets 50 mpg even when I get up on the highway around 75 mph.

500s are good bikes, but a 250 is fine for highway speeds. Yes, it doesn't go north of a 100, but it's pretty rare that you NEED to pass someone at that speed anyways.

People should be more accurate about what makes a 250 less than ideal for extended highway riding: it's noisy because of the high engine revs, the stock tires on the old 250 tracks grooves, it's light weight requires you to pay a little more attention, and you have to shift more frequently (than a bigger bike) to stay in the powerband.

[denizined]

Originally Posted by tobu

People should be more accurate about what makes a 250 less than ideal for extended highway riding: it's noisy because of the high engine revs, the stock tires on the old 250 tracks grooves, it's light weight requires you to pay a little more attention, and you have to shift more frequently (than a bigger bike) to stay in the powerband.

I use my 250 on highways and its never been a problem cruising at any speed between 70 and 95 miles per hour which eliminates the non enough speed argument (which I've seen others use as an excuse many times).
As for light weight, my bike weighs well over 50 pounds over the newest 600SS sports bike so thats the light weight requiring more attention argument invalid.
And at highway speeds, if you've decided to forgo the use of earplugs (once you try earplugs there is just no way going back) the only thing you can hear is the wind anyway so thats hardly an argument against a 250 either.
And for your last point, if you're going to be cruising on the highway at a steady speed why would you want to constantly stay in the powerband? If you're cruising at 90mph you're passing slow moving cars at a decent rate anyway.
I'm not saying 250 is the best way to go, I wouldn't have minded starting on a 500 myself, and maybe a 500 *is* the better option for someone who wants to go for an SS in the near future, I'm just saying the arguments *against* a 250 aren't valid for someone who has 0 miles of travelling and 0 experience on two wheels. Then again, your experience on the highway seems very different from my highway experience on a 250.

[unknown00]

a f3, f4, and fzr600 are pretty much what's on my list and maybe but not so much sv650 and gs500f. i don't really like the ninja250's look i might though buy like a really small 250cc or smaller bike and ride that around for like a month though before i make the purchase. just depends on the money

[kunosoura]

Originally Posted by denizined

I don't want to go off on a tangent here but thought it neccessary to point out since it keeps cropping out...

How do all these people "learn how to ride on their friend's r6s and cbrs and gsxrs"?!?
What kind of SS owning person in their right mind would give their bike to someone who has never sat on a bike before and teach them how to ride. I don't know if i'd trust my bike with any rider regardless of experience let alone a complete noob!

Seriously dude! I get people asking me to teach them to ride my ex500 all the time. I always, as politely as possible, refer them straight to the nearest MSF course. I dropped my bike the first day I had it, after MSF and all that. No way in hell I'm letting some broke ass pothead fuck my bike up.

[TwoColorShoe]

Originally Posted by unknown00

a f3, f4, and fzr600 are pretty much what's on my list and maybe but not so much sv650 and gs500f. i don't really like the ninja250's look i might though buy like a really small 250cc or smaller bike and ride that around for like a month though before i make the purchase. just depends on the money

I'd stay away from those 600cc's.

If you absolutely have to, then the sv650 would work, although most would say that the gs500f would be a great bike starting out.

You're wanting to get the bike because of the cool look/sound. The new Ninja 250r is seriously your best bet. I saw someone riding it on the road just yesterday and had to do a double take. It looked awesome. If I could get a second bike, then that ninja would be it. Awesome gas mileage, too.

[tobu]

Originally Posted by denizined

I use my 250 on highways and its never been a problem cruising at any speed between 70 and 95 miles per hour which eliminates the non enough speed argument (which I've seen others use as an excuse many times).
As for light weight, my bike weighs well over 50 pounds over the newest 600SS sports bike so thats the light weight requiring more attention argument invalid.
And at highway speeds, if you've decided to forgo the use of earplugs (once you try earplugs there is just no way going back) the only thing you can hear is the wind anyway so thats hardly an argument against a 250 either.
And for your last point, if you're going to be cruising on the highway at a steady speed why would you want to constantly stay in the powerband? If you're cruising at 90mph you're passing slow moving cars at a decent rate anyway.
I'm not saying 250 is the best way to go, I wouldn't have minded starting on a 500 myself, and maybe a 500 *is* the better option for someone who wants to go for an SS in the near future, I'm just saying the arguments *against* a 250 aren't valid for someone who has 0 miles of travelling and 0 experience on two wheels. Then again, your experience on the highway seems very different from my highway experience on a 250.

Right, you're riding a Hyosung. I was thinking of Ninja 250's, which are much lighter. I'm not saying 250s are bad highway bikes -- there are just some issues which people should be aware of and work around. No bike does everything perfectly.